Controversial bill to ban orcas at SeaWorld stalls

An intensely lobbied bill proposing to ban SeaWorld from using killer whales at any of its California shows stalled Tuesday on its first public hearing as lawmakers sidestepped the controversial vote by calling for a yearlong study.

The bill’s author, Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, told Assembly committee members that he supported an interim study. Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lynwood (Los Angeles County), who heads the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee that heard the bill, had recommended a day earlier that it pass and described his adamant support during Tuesday’s hearing.

“I’m a little disappointed, but this will bring the stakeholders together,” said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute, which sponsored the bill, AB2140.

The bill had also proposed a ban on the import or export of orcas in the state and required the 10 whales currently at SeaWorld’s San Diego site to be on display in larger “sea pens” if available. A SeaWorld representative told lawmakers that the bill would force the San Diego theme park to immediately move its orcas – also known as killer whales – to its locations in Florida and Texas.

The bill was sparked by the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which questions whether killer whales should be kept in captivity and highlights the injuries and deaths to trainers who have worked with the animals. John Reilly, president of SeaWorld in San Diego, said the documentary is pure propaganda by animal extremists.

Reilly said the theme park opposed everything in the California legislation. Reilly said the bill would hurt the animals it purports to help by jeopardizing pivotal research and diminishing opportunities to educate the public about killer whales.